Investigators continue to look into whether prostitution played role in baby's death

Ventura County sheriff's officials continue to investigate whether prostitution played a role in a newborn being found dead and abandoned in a Nyeland Acres strawberry field last month.

They have paired with the Oxnard Police Department to examine other human trafficking and prostitution cases in the county and whether the baby's mother may have been smuggled into the country and forced into prostitution. The mother has not been found.

Sheriff's Detective Jose Lopez said investigators also are looking into other possibilities. For example, they have talked with school resource officers about any students who dropped out after becoming pregnant, Lopez said.

"The investigation is still ongoing," Lopez said. "We have a lot of work to do."

Authorities have not determined the cause of death but think the full-term fetus was born in the strawberry field May 21. There was no sign of trauma on the body, authorities said, but the incident is being treated as a homicide.

Lopez said there is no way of knowing how prevalent prostitution is in the county because it is an illicit, underground business.

"That's like asking how many meth labs there are," Lopez said. "They are not advertising."

Resources are available for mothers who want to surrender newborns anonymously and legally, which leads investigators to wonder whether someone else was involved in this case.

Oxnard police spokeswoman Monica Munoz wrote in an email that while sheriff's officials have discussed the incident with her department's major crimes unit, she could not provide specific details on the investigation.

Munoz said human trafficking has occurred in Oxnard, citing the case of a resident who pleaded guilty to pimping and aiding in prostitution after being arrested in July. The 31-year-old man is facing three years in prison when he is sentenced this month, authorities said.

He was arrested with a 22-year-old Los Angeles woman, who was booked on suspicion of misdemeanor prostitution, police said. Both were arrested at a home on South Hayes Street in Oxnard, police said.

He initially was charged with false imprisonment by violence, human trafficking, pimping and use of false documents and was the subject of an immigration hold, jail records show. Some of those charges were dropped as part of a plea bargain.

Oxnard police Detective James Langford said his agency regularly investigates prostitution and human trafficking, mostly in relation to massage parlors.

In December, Langford made a presentation to the Oxnard City Council on the issue. At the time, he stated that 23 of 27 licensed massage parlors in the city were suspected of "conducting prostitution-based activity."

Langford said while he hasn't heard of incidents involving women forced into prostitution and pregnancy, he believes they are not uncommon. He added that having a pregnant woman go to a hospital could expose a prostitution organization, so the woman is not likely to get quality care.

David Wales, assistant special agent in charge for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Homeland Security Investigations, said his agency is investigating human trafficking and prostitution in Ventura, Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo counties.

"This is a very real concern," said Wales, who is based in Camarillo. "It's here, we know it's here and we're actively pursuing leads to address concerns in this area."

The women often live in isolated, cramped spaces and are exploited until they pay off their debts to smugglers, Wales said. Smugglers often threaten to turn the women over to police or immigration agents if they don't cooperate, so they live in constant fear, he said.

He said prostitution and human trafficking can "go hidden in plain sight," and authorities need the public's help in reporting suspicious activities.